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Caribbean Matters: VP Harris visits the Bahamas to meet with Caribbean leaders [1]
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Date: 2023-06-08
Vice President Kamala Harris heads to the Caribbean Thursday for a meeting in the Bahamas with Caribbean leaders. This trip is historic! As U.S. Embassy Chargé d’affaires for the Bahamas Usha Pitts noted on May 25, she “will be the highest-ranking U.S. government official to visit The Bahamas since Independence in 1973. Her visit commemorates not just 50 years of Bahamian Independence, but also 50 years of enduring partnership between our two nations.”
Additionally, Harris, whose paternal ancestry is Caribbean, is the first Black woman to represent the United States to our Caribbean neighbors.
This story will be updated as news and video of Harris’ trip emerges.
RELATED STORY: Caribbean Matters: Celebrating National Caribbean Heritage Month and cultural ties to the U.S.
Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.
Statement by Press Secretary Kirsten Allen on the Vice President’s Travel to The Bahamas
The U.S.-Caribbean Leaders Meeting will be co-hosted by the Vice President and Prime Minister Philip Davis of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, current chair of the Caribbean Community. This meeting builds on the Vice President’s previous meetings with Caribbean leaders in April 2022, at the June 2022 Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, and in September 2022. The Vice President’s trip delivers on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advance cooperation with the Caribbean in pursuit of shared prosperity and security, and in recognition of the common bonds and interests between our nations. The U.S.-Caribbean Leaders Meeting will address a range of regional issues. In particular, the Vice President and Caribbean leaders will continue discussions on shared efforts to address the climate crisis, including by promoting climate resilience and adaptation in the Caribbean region and by increasing energy security through clean energy. This builds on the U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030, launched by the Vice President and Caribbean leaders in Los Angeles at the Summit of the Americas. The Vice President is traveling to The Bahamas during Caribbean-American Heritage Month and will celebrate the longstanding people-to-people ties between the Caribbean and the United States.
In April, Harris met virtually with Caribbean leaders:
Vice President Kamala Harris met virtually today with 15 leaders representing Caribbean nations and underscored the importance the Biden-Harris Administration places on our partnerships throughout the Caribbean. The Vice President made clear the United States is committed to work with our Caribbean neighbors to advance cooperation on economic recovery, the climate crisis, and security, among other areas of mutual concern.
As part of the Administration’s commitment to continued engagement within the Caribbean, the Vice President proposed an annual meeting of this group to continue high-level discussions.
Here’s a clip from that meeting.
x US Vice President Kamala Harris proposes an annual meeting between CARICOM leader and the US to discuss issues like climate change pic.twitter.com/WmrxYls8IR — Kejan Haynes (@KejanHaynes) April 29, 2022
Per her office, Harris’ schedule for Thursday includes a meeting with Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis, the U.S.-Caribbean Leaders Meeting, and spending time with U.S. Embassy Nassau staff and their families.
One of the interesting side notes about this meeting, from my perspective, is that the head of CARICOM, Dr. Carla Natalie Barnett, is the first woman to have ever held that position, just as Harris is the first woman in the United States to have held hers.
Caricom Secretary-General Carla Barnett arrives for the 43rd Heads of Government Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), at Assuria High Rise in Paramaribo, Suriname, on July 3, 2022.
From Barnett’s CARICOM bio:
Carla Natalie Barnett, PhD, CBE became the eighth Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on 15 August 2021. Dr. Carla Natalie Barnett. Secretary General of CARICOM Dr. Barnett, an economist, has worked across CARICOM for over 30 years. She was the first woman to be appointed as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Belize, and the first woman and youngest person to be appointed as Deputy Secretary-General of CARICOM. She was also Vice-President, Operations at the Caribbean Development Bank. [...] As a politician, Dr. Barnett contested the 2015 Belize General Election, and was a Senator and a Minister of State in the Belize Government from 2015-2020. She is an advocate for gender equality as the right thing to do to create a more stable and equitable society, and as good economic policy. She has been an active Member of the Caribbean Institute of Women in Leadership (CIWiL) Belize Chapter, a President of the Belize YWCA and on the Board of Haven House, a shelter for battered women.
This short video from CARICOM introduces Dr. Barnett.
x YouTube Video
When Harris arrives in the Bahamas, she will be greeted by U.S. Chargé d’affaires Pitts.
From the Embassy press release:
This meeting builds on the U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030 (PAC 2030), launched by the Vice President and Caribbean leaders in Los Angeles at the Summit of the Americas. [...] Over the past five decades The Bahamas and the United States have forged commercial and trade ties, cooperated on security and law enforcement, and shared cultural and educational exchanges. The Chargé noted both countries’ alignment across many foreign policy positions. For example, The Bahamas quickly joined the United States in sanctioning 121 Russian individuals and entities following the invasion of Ukraine.
The United States does not have an ambassador to the Bahamas, due to appointments being stalled in the Senate. But as Jared Higgs reported back in April for The Nassau Guardian’s “Pitts hopeful Bahamas will soon get U.S. ambassador”:
Pitts said yesterday she is “sad” about the 11-year absence of a US ambassador in The Bahamas, adding that officials hope the current nominee will be in The Bahamas “sooner rather than later”. “It’s not what we want, particularly for a solid ally. We want an ambassador down here that reflects the relationship,” said Pitts on the sidelines of a press tour of the US Embassy building which is currently under construction on East Street and Shirley Street. “I think we are all sad that it hasn’t happened, but we are hopeful. We hope to see him down here sooner rather than later.” Back in May 2022, US President Joe Biden announced Calvin Smyre as his nominee for the ambassador role in The Bahamas.
As Pitts’ government bio points out, the Foreign Service veteran from Massachusetts has some interesting life parallels with Harris.
Ms. Pitts was born and raised in Massachusetts, the daughter of an interracial marriage. She visited India at age 11, an experience that led to a lifetime of travel and eventual career in the Foreign Service. She holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts, the George Washington University, and the Naval War College. She speaks Chinese, Russian, German, Spanish, and Portuguese (to varying degrees). She is married to Paul Nicklin, a British citizen, and has two adult children from a previous marriage.
x FLAG FLYING HIGH: US Chargé d’Affaires Usha Pitts encourages every Bahamian to ”enjoy the blessings of liberty and life in a free society,” as the US Embassy celebrates Pride Month during the month of June. pic.twitter.com/lm5FkqvYIa — Eyewitness News Bahamas (@ewnewsbahamas) June 1, 2023
Though much of the mainstream U.S. media fails to deliver adequate Caribbean reporting—one of the main reasons we started this weekly series—the Caribbean press has been anticipating Harris’ visit for the last month. Of course, U.S media also frequently fails to cover Harris’ key actions outside of the country.
Take a look at some of the Caribbean coverage—this is just a sampling!
This letter to the editor of Eyewitness News, from Rupert Hayward, Founder of Blue Action Lab in the Bahamas, caught my eye.
US Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to The Bahamas presents an ideal opportunity to jumpstart our national sustainability and resilience-building efforts in the face of the urgent threats to our economy and communities posed by global warming and climate change. Her meeting with Caribbean leaders in Nassau this week will center upon advancing efforts to combat climate change in the region and it is fitting that our Prime Minister Phillip Davis, a vocal champion of climate resilience since coming to office, will serve as co-chair along with VP Harris. It is my hope that high on the agenda of these talks will be the enormous potential of Grand Bahama to become a key focal point in the climate battle and the emergence of the Blue Economy in The Bahamas. Already the industrial capital of the nation and boasting a regulatory regime specifically designed to encourage innovation, the island is uniquely positioned to be a cutting-edge engine room and test lab for pioneering climate resilience technologies that can greatly benefit The Bahamas, the region and the world. Meanwhile, developing Grand Bahama into a hub for climate solutions will also create unprecedented training, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for hundreds if not thousands of Bahamians in exciting emerging fields.
It will be interesting to see how the U.S. media covers Harris’ trip.
Join me in the comments for more news as it comes in, and for our weekly Caribbean News Roundup.
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